2:00

internal bondage. The Buddha

2:02

actually used the language of bondage. We

2:04

don't use them. Us Western Buddhist teachers

2:07

don't usually talk about bondage that much. We

2:10

talk about attachments. And

2:12

sometimes we'll use the word fetters. But

2:14

people hardly know what that means. But

2:18

bondage, but to be

2:20

free of bondage, the internal bondage

2:22

that we carry. And what strikes

2:24

me thinking about this today is

2:26

that, of

2:29

course, anybody who

2:32

is enslaved will

2:34

want to be free. There's

2:38

a natural movement in

2:41

the hearts of everyone to

2:43

not be restricted, not be

2:45

limited, not be

2:48

locked up, not

2:50

be free. There's a movement out

2:52

of slavery, out of the

2:55

lack of freedom. I think

2:57

it comes from a deeply natural place

3:00

inside of us. And

3:03

the heartbreaking thing about slavery is

3:06

that the humanity, but

3:08

also the human instinct,

3:14

deep instinct towards wanting

3:16

to be free, to living a free life,

3:20

is restricted, is

3:23

crushed, is

3:25

prevented. And

3:28

part of what it means to human being is to

3:31

allow the heart, its unfettered movement,

3:37

to allow the heart to sing. And we

3:42

want everyone's heart to be

3:44

singing. And

3:48

every heart has the capacity to

3:50

be smiling, to be singing, to

3:52

be delighted, to be at peace.

3:56

And that's what the heart wants. desire

6:00

for freedom. To

6:02

really, to be able to have the inner

6:06

attunement, the inner sensitivity, the

6:09

presence of attention that

6:11

can really feel that

6:13

onward leading movement towards

6:15

freedom. That we can

6:17

trust. That we can listen

6:20

to. That we can kind of help us find our way.

6:24

It's easy, I don't know if easy, but it's

6:27

possible to become free in some kind of way.

6:31

And then to lose it. New fears

6:33

come along. New greets come along. But

6:36

if we can be attuned to that

6:38

inner desire for freedom, then we can

6:40

always find our way. Find

6:42

our way again. Find our way again. And

6:48

so to be part of the reason to sit

6:51

in meditation is to be able to intuit.

6:54

It's deeper than intuition. I

6:57

think it's to feel what

6:59

the heart, what the depth

7:01

inside of us really wants to have

7:03

happen, wants to go. And then

7:08

these two kinds of freedoms come together.

7:13

The people in the world who are oppressed need

7:17

to be supported by the people in

7:19

the world who are discovering how to

7:21

set themselves free from their own oppression,

7:23

the inner oppression we have, the inner

7:26

bondage. As we free ourselves

7:28

from the inner bondage, or

7:31

as we start feeling this deep sensitivity

7:33

of our own heart,

7:36

I think then that we have a reference

7:38

point for appreciating and valuing others more and

7:40

more. We have

7:42

a way of appreciating

7:47

the humanity of everyone. And

7:50

we don't want to have anyone held

7:54

in check, anyone held

7:56

in bondage, whether

7:58

it's outer bondage or inner bondage. And

10:03

let that bring you happiness. What

10:05

a great desire to have. That's

10:08

a desire to keep, as

10:11

long as you don't get attached to it. So,

10:15

thank you.